Generally, known forging presses include several operating steps to produce forged parts. There are usually four to five different operating steps carried out in one press. An automatic lifting beam transfers workpieces in a known fashion from one work station to the next. All of the workpieces are present in the tool space being transported along simultaneously when each transfer takes place. Gripping members corresponding to the number of operating steps are mounted on the lifting beam for effecting this purpose.
In cold forming presses, the workpieces are fed to the space between the tools of the press with each stroke thereof. The problems of contaminating the tools with scale and the like do not arise in cold forming machines. Contrary to cold forming machines, it is generally necessary to blast the dies of a drop forging press with a cleaning fluid and also to introduce die lubricating materials. The blanks fed to the automatic workpiece transport mechanism are generally introduced in such a way that only each second operation is occupied. The blasting and spraying to effect cleaning of the dies is then controlled so that the unoccupied die in each case is blasted and sprayed. This prior art method produces a certain reduction in the output of the drop forging press and is tolerated because it is necessary to keep the dies clean and lubricated contrary to the use of cold-forming machines.